I just pulled my thermostat yesterday and found that one of the tabs circled was broken with the spring and cross member sitting in the block... I also received eng temp warning after sitting with AC off for a while then starting to drive.

Very interesting, appreciate the details. Simply it's a very poor design with plastic parts exposed to heat that keep the spring under tension. Normally it should have been the actuator that would fail as mentioned above, but since the housing is this fragile, you guys have a much worse problem on hand.

I assume these tabs gave up at close to 10 years age? If so, this part becomes a must be replaced item at no more than 7-8 years old.

Is the thermostat easy to access?

If you click on the link in my previous post (Land Rover Forum) you will see the procedure.

It is very difficult to remove all of the electrical connections for the intake manifold.

It might be possible to do the work without removing the manifold but I can't get my hands in there.

As for the design of the Thermostat; I do wish that Volvo had made the plastic tabs larger so that it wouldn't fail at ~10 years.

Having said that I do appreciate the Engineering that went into the design.

And yes I agree that the Thermostat should be replaced in ~10 year intervals.

If you look at my list above most of the items listed should be done by 10 years; if you want your Volvo to last 20 years.

I've owned my 2008 LR2 since new and I am at 114,000 miles and I expect to get more than 200,000 miles without a major repair.

In case its unclear I really like the Volvo Power-train in my LR2, Volvo reputation for reliability is part of the reason that I bought my LR2.

The black plastic tab breaks off and the spring is no longer under tension
Note: mine broke 5 minutes after removal, another XC70 owner had his break in the same location and he got a temperature warning

Very interesting, appreciate the details. Simply it's a very poor design with plastic parts exposed to heat that keep the spring under tension. Normally it should have been the actuator that would fail as mentioned above, but since the housing is this fragile, you guys have a much worse problem on hand.

I assume these tabs gave up at close to 10 years age? If so, this part becomes a must be replaced item at no more than 7-8 years old.

Is the thermostat easy to access?

I've read somewhere that you can get to the thermostat without removing the intake manifold but I am replacing the fan assembly as well, so I did. If you choose to pull the manifold it's not a complicated task, but getting the manifold out of the way after disconnecting it is quite an ordeal. I'll be posting pics in the cooling fan assembly thread soon, I received an incompatible fan assembly from the Internet so I'm waiting on the correct one to arrive today to finish reassemby.

Very interesting, appreciate the details. Simply it's a very poor design with plastic parts exposed to heat that keep the spring under tension. Normally it should have been the actuator that would fail as mentioned above, but since the housing is this fragile, you guys have a much worse problem on hand.

I assume these tabs gave up at close to 10 years age? If so, this part becomes a must be replaced item at no more than 7-8 years old.

Is the thermostat easy to access?

If you click on the link in my previous post (Land Rover Forum) you will see the procedure.

It is very difficult to remove all of the electrical connections for the intake manifold.

It might be possible to do the work without removing the manifold but I can't get my hands in there.

As for the design of the Thermostat; I do wish that Volvo had made the plastic tabs larger so that it wouldn't fail at ~10 years.

Having said that I do appreciate the Engineering that went into the design.

And yes I agree that the Thermostat should be replaced in ~10 year intervals.

If you look at my list above most of the items listed should be done by 10 years; if you want your Volvo to last 20 years.

I've owned my 2008 LR2 since new and I am at 114,000 miles and I expect to get more than 200,000 miles without a major repair.

In case its unclear I really like the Volvo Power-train in my LR2, Volvo reputation for reliability is part of the reason that I bought my LR2.

I am completely satisfied with my purchase.

Take care

Paul

Does the car go into limp mode when the thermostat fails and the temp rises or can you drive normally and warp heads/gaskets?
If so, these cars can be risky used cars.